From the Gardens Registrar: It’s Starting Soon! Information on
Upcoming Non-Events at Eagle Heights
Hello Gardeners,
OPENING DAY – Opening Day for our gardens
this year will be Saturday, March 20. On that day, we will bring out the tools
and garden carts that have been in storage for the winter at both gardens. Although
we’re not officially open until this day, we do keep some tools and carts
outside all winter, so that gardeners can work in the off-season.
Portable toilets will be set up at both gardens starting on
Thursday, March 18. By March 20, the parking signs on Eagle Heights Drive will
be changed from the winter version which does not allow garden parking except
on weekends, to the garden season version, which designates the spots along the
south side of the street specifically as garden parking.
Please note that the water in the gardens will not be turned on
until there is no danger of heavy frost that would damage the pipes. Don’t
expect the water to be on until late April, or even early May.
FREE SEEDS – Normally (that is, when the
Earth is not experiencing a global pandemic), we hold a Seed Fair every year,
at the end of March. Current gardeners come to the Community Center that
morning, check in, and receive tickets which they can exchange for seeds for
vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Last year, the Coronavirus settled in while we
were planning the Fair, and it had to be cancelled. This year, the health
situation is better, but we will still not be able to hold our usual event.
However, we do have lots of seeds to share with gardeners. After
our Opening Day, I will begin bringing seeds to both gardens, and leaving them
on the share shelves. I will bring some out several times a week, depending on
the weather. We will have seeds for the vegetables that need to be started
early in the season, in the house, such as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. We
will also have seeds for early crops, such as lettuce, carrots, radishes,
greens, beets, and peas. Seeds for beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, herbs,
flowers, etc., will be brought out later when the weather warms up.
Last year, our gardeners did a fantastic job of social distancing.
It will be important again this year, particularly when people are clustering
around seed packets. Please wear a mask and give other people space when you
are in common areas of the gardens and other people are around.
FREE POTS – We also have a large
collection of plastic plant pots, including trays and pots for starting seeds. These
will also be brought out to both gardens and left on the share shelves. Help
yourself. (They take up a lot of space in my office, and I hope to never see
them again.) If you have extras of these at home, as most gardeners do, please
bring some to the gardens to share.
ROW COVER – Many of our gardeners use
this garden fabric to give their seedlings protection from insects, wind, and
cold. We buy big rolls of it, cut them into smaller pieces, and sell them, at
cost, to gardeners. Again, because of the pandemic, we weren’t able to sell any
last year, but this year, we will sell some, for $5 per piece, in the next few
weeks. We haven’t set dates for this yet, but when we do, I will include the
information in one of my next weekly messages.
QUESTION; So, does this mean we can
start gardening now?
ANSWER: NO, my dears, it’s still
March! It’s way too early to plant anything outside. We’re having nice warm weather
this week, but it won’t last. We will have more cold and snow before Spring
really takes hold. The gardens are still covered with snow, and once that
melts, the ground will still be frozen. Once it thaws, it will turn into mud.
And it is very bad for your soil to dig and work it when it’s wet and muddy,
especially for us with our heavy clay soil. (It’s also bad for whoever washes
your clothes.)
Early April is generally the earliest anyone can actually start
planting anything here, and mid to late April is still plenty early. Planting too early can be counter-productive -
seeds won’t necessarily sprout and plants will grow very slowly if the soil is
too cold. However, you can certainly do some cleaning and clearing in your
plots now, if you’re desperate to be outside.
Happy Gardening (pretty soon),
Kathryn